Saturday, 14 July 2007

The main event at any pig roast will, naturally, be the roast pig. As sponsor of the event it was my role to ensure the presence of the pig. Being who I am, though, I thought it prudent to provide not just a main-event pig but a pig-themed dessert as well. It seemed obvious to me what must be done: piggie cookies.As good as other cookies are, I find sugar cookie is king of the cookie kingdom. I can eat dozens without pause and without them becoming cloyingly sweet or heavy. Importantly, they are also ideal for rolling out and using with cookie cutters. For this occasion, I used both my pig-shaped cookie cutter and, conscious that people might be tired of pig by the time dessert arrived, an elephant cookie cutter. I topped them with icing in order to color them in a bit; I thought the icing took away from the delicate cookie flavor a bit but it did help to liven up the look of the little piggies.Sugar Cookies with Lemon IcingBake at 180 C for 8-10 mins if making thin-ish cut out cookies; makes apprx 4 dozen.

Cookies

1 1/4 C sugar

1 C/200 g butter, softened

3 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 C flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Pre-heat oven to 180 decgrees.

Cream together the butter and sugar until well mixed and slightly fluffy (using a mixer might be best).

Add the yolks, one by one, and then the vanilla, combining well.

Combine the dry ingredients, and sift in batches into the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

If not using cookie cutters, shape into rough balls using two teaspoons. Slightly flatten each ball with the back of the teaspoon when placing on the tray. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

If using cookies cutters, roll out batches of dough onto a well floured, clean surface, keeping the non-used dough in the fridge until needed. Roll out the dough until it is fairly thin (about 1/4 mm). Return the strip of non-used dough around the cutter shapes back into the fridge.

Repeat the process of rolling out, cutting, and returning dough to the fridge until all dough is used. Cook each batch for around 8 minutes or until turning golden.

Remove from oven and tray on to a cooling rack once done.

Lemon Icing

2 C Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)

1 Tbs milk

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

food coloring of choice

Combine all the ingrdients, mixing well until there are no more lumps from the sugar. Consistency should be very viscose/thick. If it seems too watery, add more sugar.

Add food coloring as desired. If using multiple colors, first separate into different batches before adding colors.